Which religion (Christian or Islam) at its’ core truly of peace? The third successor of Muhammad, Caliph Omar (634-644) reined only two years after Mohammed’s death. Caliph Omar said, “It behooves us to devour the Christians and our sons to devour their descendants, so long as any of them remain on the earth.” [1] Even to this day we have Islam leaders calling for the destruction of Christians: “Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople…Today, Rome is the Capital of the Catholics, or the crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine…in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam – This capital of theirs will be an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread through Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, and even Eastern Europe.” [2]

While Islam does allow some tolerance, it is the only religion with its own developed doctrine, theology, and legal system mandating warfare against unbelievers, and their subjugation as inferiors under the Muslims. Islam is a religion of peace if you redefine peace. Peace in the Islamic context means rule of the Islamic Law over the world, which denies basic rights. This is certainly not the peace of God, and the peace that the apostles and saints have taught and preached about. Peace to Islam is to destroy pagans or convert, and if someone is an infidel they are either to be killed, convert, or pay taxes and submit to Islamic Law. As we read in the Gospel Reading, it is crystal clear what Jesus’ true motives and teachings are when someone attacks us. We are called to be non-violent.

If Islam is violent, why are so many Muslims peaceful? It is because people in their very nature our wanting peace and non-violence. It is also because people do not learn and believe their founders origins. Many who work for Planned Parenthood are either ignorant of or want to ignore the beliefs of their founder, Margret Sanger, who was a racist and believed in eugenics (the belief that other races other than whites are inferior). There are many who deny the beliefs and practices of their faith. These people we call hypocrites. There are those who profess the Catholic faith, but do not follow the beliefs of the faith (i.e. uses contraception, endorses abortion, etc.) There are hypocrites everywhere. For Muslims, they are suppose to embark in jihad, but many of them do not, “Especially in the West, Muslims here are more likely to be attracted by Western ways (which explains why they are here) and less likely to act violently against the society to which they may have fled from an Islamic tyranny abroad. However, in any given social context, as Islam takes greater root -- increasing numbers of followers, the construction of more mosques and "cultural centers," etc. -- the greater the likelihood that some number of its adherents will take its violent precepts seriously. This is the problem that the West faces today.” [3]

What about the violent passages in the Bible? First, when we say “violent” passages we are speaking of only the Old Testament. Even within the Old Testament, the term “violent passages” is too broad. There are violent passages, but it was because it was speaking of the history of the battles and wars. “the violent passages in the Bible certainly do not amount to a standing order to commit violence against the rest of the world. Unlike the Quran, the Bible is a huge collection of documents written by different people at different times in different contexts, which allows for much greater interpretative freedom. The Quran, on the other hand, comes exclusively from one source: Muhammad. It is through the life of Muhammad that the Quran must be understood, as the Quran itself says. His wars and killings both reflect and inform the meaning of the Quran. Furthermore, the strict literalism of the Quran means that there is no room for interpretation when it comes to its violent injunctions. As it is through the example of Christ, the "Prince of Peace," that Christianity interprets its scriptures, so it is through the example of the warlord and despot Muhammad that Muslims understand the Quran. [4]

What about the Crusades? The Crusades is one of the most misunderstood historical events of all time. Revisionist’s history has completely made the true events become fuzzy. Again, there is too much information to convey in just a simple paragraph, but here are the main points.

Why did the crusades begin? “In both the Western academia and media as well as in the Islamic world, the Crusades are viewed as wars of aggression fought by bloody-minded Christians against peaceful Muslims. While the Crusades were certainly bloody, they are more accurately understood as a belated Western response to centuries of jihad than as an unprovoked, unilateral attack. Muslim rule in the Holy Land began in the second half of the 7th century during the Arab wave of jihad with the conquests of Damascus and Jerusalem by the second "rightly-guided Caliph," Umar. After the initial bloody jihad, Christian and Jewish life there was tolerated within the structures of the dhimma [paying taxes to live unharmed] and the Muslim Arabs generally permitted Christians abroad to continue to make pilgrimage to their holy sites, a practice which proved lucrative for the Muslim state. In the 11th century, the relatively benign Arab administration of the Holy Land was replaced with that of Seljuk Turks, due to civil war in the Islamic Empire. Throughout the latter half of the 11th century, the Turks waged war against the Christian Byzantine Empire and pushed it back from its strongholds in Antioch and Anatolia (now Turkey). In 1071, Byzantine forces suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in what is now Eastern Turkey. The Turks resumed the jihad in the Holy Land, abusing, robbing, enslaving, and killing Christians there and throughout Asia Minor. They threatened to cut off Christendom from its holiest site, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, rebuilt under Byzantine stewardship after it was destroyed by Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in 1009. It was in this context of a renewed jihad in the Middle East that the Roman Pope, Urban II, issued a call in 1095 for Western Christians to come to the aid of their Eastern cousins (and seems to have harbored the hope of claiming Jerusalem for the Papacy after the Great Schism with Eastern Christianity in 1054). This "armed pilgrimage," in which numerous civilians as well as soldiers took part, would eventually become known years later as the First Crusade.” [5]

The true crusades were the only ones issued by the Pope, and were carried out later, by other countries and not the Catholic Church. By 1271, all the lands that Christendom helped protect were retaken by the Muslims.

How are we to treat Muslims? We are to treat them as the Gospel has told us today. We are to treat Muslims just how we are to treat Protestants, Jewish people, atheists, and any other people who have different faith views. We look to seek ecumenism, and find ways to bring them into the fullness of truth. “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day.” [6] Another good way to build bridges is through the belief in Mary and Jesus. Muslims believe that Mary was sinless, and had a virgin birth. While they do not see Jesus as God, they do see Him as a great prophet and sinless as well. We may be able to pave more roads to help them understand, and possibly come to believe Jesus is God. We should not be afraid to even speak the truth to Muslims like St. Francis who went to the Caliphate of his time. He went right up to him, and spoke the truth of Jesus Christ. The Caliphate was so impressed he gave permission for the Franciscans to protect the Holy Sites in Jerusalem. We should never be afraid to share the faith to everyone, even those who are in stark contrast of beliefs.